'Sopranos' Prequel Cast Adds 'Umbrella Academy' Actor John Magaro

The Sopranos prequel cast keeps growing, and this time, it's added a familiar face from David Chase's past career. John Magaro, who starred in the Chase-directed 2012 movie Not Fade Away, is the latest addition to the impressive line-up. As is the case with most of the cast, we have no idea who he's playing. Magaro has credits in films such as The Big Short, Carol, and can currently be seen on Netflix's The Umbrella Academy.

Deadline broke the news about John Magaro joining the Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark. Magaro isn't quite as recognizable as the rest of the cast, but he's done solid work in Carol, The Big Short, Overlord, and Not Fade Away, the feature film from Sopranos creator David Chase which also starred Sopranos star James Gandolfini. Magaro recently appeared in Netflix's superhero series The Umbrella Academy, and also gave a brief but memorable turn in Amazon's Jack Ryan series as a morally conflicted drone pilot.

As has been the case with almost all of the Many Saints of Newark casting so far, details about Magaro's character are being kept a secret. He joins Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen and Michael Gandolfini. Of that line-up, we only have confirmation on two people: Nivola is playing Dickie Moltisanti, father of Sopranos character Christopher Moltistanti. And Gandolfini, who is the son of the late James Gandolfini, is playing the younger version of Tony Soprano.

The Many Saints of Newark is "set in the era of the Newark riots in the 1960s, when African Americans and Italian Americans in the city were at each other's throats. That clash became lethal when it spread to gangsters of each group. Several Sopranos characters are expected to be part of the mix, with Gandolfini to play the younger version of his dad's character Tony Soprano."

Chase co-wrote the script with Lawrence Konner, and Sopranos series director Alan Taylor is helming. I'm still not 100% sold on this whole thing. I love The Sopranos, and I'm glad Chase is involved with the film. But returning to the well for a prequel doesn't strike me as the best idea. But no matter the case, I'm definitely going to end up seeing this thing, and I hope to be impressed when I do.

There's currently no release date set for The Many Saints of Newark, but it's expected to arrive sometime in 2020.